The other One
by fluffykitty12
Summary: With Samurai, there is always balance. When Jayden realizes Jess has never had a friend, he tries to help her make one. But he inadvertently hurts her in the process. Then, when as old allie returns, Jayden realizes he knows virtually nothing of Jess's past. But will this new person tear the team apart? Sequel to haunt My Waking Moments.


Chapter 1

"Hey snowball." Antonio said, striding up to her. "How you feeling?"

Jess shrugged, eyeing him carefully. "Fine. Why are you calling me snowball?"

Antonio shrugged. 'Well, you're the white ranger, after all, and snow is white, so I figured I'd call you snowball. Unless you don't like it."

"No, I don't mind. Symbol power, go!" Jess hurriedly drew a fire symbol, and scorched the pavement below her. She sighed, breathing heavily. Whenever she used her fire power she always felt invigorated.

Antonio watched, and then nodded. "Can you do any water power?"

Jess shrugged. "My main element is the moon, so I guess I can, but I'm not very good at it. It's weird. My mom was a Sheba and my dad was related to the white ranger, so I have all these elements. It's annoying."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Really. I wouldn't mind having more than one element."

Jess shook her head, sighing. "I have fire, water, and snow, since you need water to make snow. It's so confusing."

Antonio nodded. "I can help you if you want, snowball.'

Jess looked surprised. "Really? I'm, not sure how to do it. The only thing I'm really good with is a sword."

Antonio shook his head. "You're alri9ght. Just need practice, is all. Hit me with a water symbol."

Jess looked wary. "You sure?" she asked.

Antonio nodded. "Come on, snowball, hit me!"

"Snow symbol power, go!" Jess quickly drew a symbol and sent it spinning. Instantly, a blast of icy wind and snow knocked them both off their feet.

They got to their feet a moment later, brushing the snow off.

"Well, that didn't work." Jess said, looking a bit down.

"It's alright, snowball. Now I really have a reason to call you snowball!" Antonio said, grinning.

Jess smiled slightly.

"Hey, I have a great idea, snowball. Want to take a quick break?"

Jess nodded, and Antonio scooped up armfuls of snow.

"Now, let's get this snow into balls. All the snow is melted, so no one expects a snow ball attack!"

Jess grinned. "Who do we get?" she asked.

Antonio shrugged. "How about Jayden? I think he's in the living room.'

Jess grinned. "This is going to be sweet. He keeps telling me to take it easy. Maybe this'll show him I'm fine.'

Antonio nodded. "Bring me a bucket, will you?"

Jess grinned. "My pleasure. So how about we sneak inside the back and startle him?"

Antonio nodded. 'I like the way you think, Snowball."

They edged around the house, bucket of snow balls in hand.

Finally, jess and Antonio edged into the room. Jayden sat, absorbed in a book on the couch, while the girls were in there room, Mike was playing video games, and Kevin was training inside.

Jess tiptoed inside, Antonio behind her. They each grabbed two snow balls. Jayden turned a page in his book.

"GAAA!" they both hurled snowballs at Jayden. One hit him in the face, the others peppering him, and Jayden, shocked, dropped his book and dove behind the couch.

Jess laughed as he peeked out, and Jayden smiled.

Just then all the rangers came rushing into the room.

Mike grinned when he saw Jayden wiping snow off his face.

'I should have done that, man! Where'd you get the snow?"

Antonio looked at Jess. "Um… symbol powers gone horribly wrong?" she suggested.

Just then, Jayden quietly gathered up the small bits of snow on his shirt and threw them at her. Jess's hand was on fire before the snow hit her, however, and the snow ball melted in it. She grinned. "Ever mess with fire power.' She said.

Jayden shook his head in admiration. "Fine, nice trick, you two. Shouldn't you be doing something?"

Jess shrugged. "Nope. I'm bored. No Nylock attacks, I figured out how to use a vacuum cleaner, and I already beat Mike at Call of Duty."

Mike pouted. "Only because I sprained my thumb!"

"Yeah." Jess said, rolling her eyes.

"But seriously, jay, I'm bored."

Jayden shrugged. Everyone else had started t go back to whatever they were doing. "Want to go to the city or something?" he asked.

Jess nodded. "Sure. I never really got to explore it before.'

Jayden nodded. "Here's twenty dollars. Have fun. Just don't get into trouble, alright?" Jess nodded quietly. "Thanks.' She said, before she left.

She walked east, towards the town, until she finally emerged. She noticed for once how large the streets were. When she had been searching for the rangers before she'd slept in dark alleys and door frames, but it seemed like an entirely different place when you were here with a place to live.

She quietly strode down every street she could remember, looking at the outdoor markets and the stores.

She stopped in the park, standing on the bridge overlooking the stream and throwing pebbles, and then walked around, wondering why Jayden had given her twenty dollars.

Maybe it was for some test or something. But he had said to have fun… so maybe she was supposed to get fun things….

She bought whatever seemed to catch her eye, until she realized it was getting dark. Then she realized she was lost. She began to panic.

It was easy being lost in the woods on the mountain. You were surrounded by plants and food- she'd been lost for four days once before her grandfather had found her. But here, here in this concrete jungle, there was nothing to hunt, nothing to gather, just pavement and people. She suddenly felt trapped in the city.

She tried to calm down. It was now getting very dark out, and she had n0 idea what to do. She figured she could probably sleep under a park bench or something, but that would be like when she hadn't found Jayden and the rangers….

Her samurizer rang, and she quickly picked up. It was Jayden.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"On my way home. I'll be there in a few minutes, alright?' she asked.

"Okay. See you soon.' Jayden hung up.

She felt more panicky than ever. She didn't know why she'd lied. Jayden would probably know where she was and pick her up, but it seemed like a major blow to her prid4e to do that. So here she was, lost, in the middle of the city, panicking. She couldn't call Jayden back. Then she'd have to admit she'd lied, and he'd trust her even less.

She tried to remember what her grandfather had told her about being lost. "Don't panic. People who are lost panic, and people who panic do stupid things and die.'

So she was going to do something stupid and die. That made her panic even more.

She reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a small sock monkey she'd bought earlier. She squeezed it quietly, taking deep breaths. It was alright. She had a shopping bag full of stuff. She should be fine.

She carefully squeezed the sock monkey again and thought. She had money left. She might be able to take the bus… The bus! She noticed a bus stop, and a map. She grinned and ran over. The route led right to the woods, and she easily knew her way back to the Sheba house from there. But how did you take a bus…?

The bus pulled up and the doors opened. She realized it looked like a huge monster, belching smoke from the exhaust pipe, waiting to eat her. A chubby lady sat in the driver's seat, and she hesitantly stepped on.

"Exact change!" the chubby lady barked.

Exact change? How much was that? She remembered her sock monkey and took a guess, dropping a dollar and fifty cents. The woman let her pass, and she sat down on a lumpy seat.

The passengers steadily got on and off, and she waited, shopping bag and sock monkey held carefully in her lap, until her stop. The chubby driver squinted at her as she got off, and she waved. "Thanks!" she yelled, before dashing into the woods. The bus driver gave her a look like she was insane, but she didn't care. The forest- she loved the forest! She was almost home.

She ran through the gates of The Sheba house a few minutes later, stepping inside.

"I'm back.'

She said quietly. Everyone looked up. They were all reading something or other. Ji had no doubt assigned scrolls to read. She had already read them all, so she was exempt.

Jayden and the others looked up from there scrolls.

"How was the city?" Jayden asked.

'Big and smoky.' Jess said, handing him the money she had left over back. "Thanks for the money. I didn't spend it all."

"No problem. What did you buy?"

Jess shrugged and sat down.

'A sock monkey, a can opener, colored pencils, a stapler, a coconut, and a mini cactus."

"that's a bit odd." Jayden said quietly.

Jess shrugged. "No, it isn't. Those are all the things you need in an emergency. If a meteoroid hit the earth right now, I'd be prepared.'

"What… never mind." Jayden said, sighing and turning back to his scroll. Jess quietly gathered up her things and went into the room she shared with Emily and Mia. She quietly set her things on the bedside table. Today had been totally exhausting. She grabbed her sock monkey and wrapped the covers around her, drifting off into a lonely sleep.

Chapter 2

Jayden cornered Emily five days later. "Hey, Em." He said quietly.

'hi Jayden." Emily forced herself not to blush.

"I know this might be kind of odd, but do you think jess is alright?" he asked.

Emily nodded. "She seems alright, to me, maybe a little solitary…."

Jayden nodded. "That's what I was wondering about. She seems really lonely. And she carries her sock monkey with her everywhere. Does she talk to it or something?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, she pretends with it a lot. I know it might seem a bit odd for a thirteen year old, Jayden, but really, what can you expect? She's got no one else her age to talk to. Mia and I do the best we can at being sisters and all, but it just isn't the same. I'm sorry. Is there anything you want me to do?"

Jayden shook his head. "No, but thanks anyways, Em. You guys really try to make her feel welcome, and I'm grateful. But she'll have to adjust, I guess. What else do girls like to do?"

Emily shrugged. "I… I honestly couldn't tell you Jayden. I mean, she's a girl and all, but she acts more tomboyish. She was raised by her grandfather, after all. She seems to like the woods a lot though."

Jayden nodded, watching Jess sit up in a tree outside. She was high up- far too high for comfort. In every gust of wind the tree trunk swayed, and she was at least twenty feet off the ground.

Her hair blew around her and she grinned.

"Crud…." Jayden muttered, stepping forward.

"Jess!' he yelled across the training floor.

"Get down from there!"

Jess looked as if she heard him, and quietly jumped from the tree branch.

Emily gasped and Jayden stared as she fell, then expertly grabbed another branch below her, swinging like a monkey, down to the next branch, and the next, leaping like a squirrel, until she jumped onto the dojo fence and to the ground.

"Whoa!" Mike breathed. "That was sweet, dude!"

"Are you insane!?" Jayden demanded, checking for breaks and concussions. Finally, he stopped hyperventilating.

"What possessed you to jump out of that tree?" he demanded.

Jess shrugged. "I knew I could land."

"You gave me a heart attack! What if the branches had moved or you missed?"

Jess sighed. "I've done it tons of times before, Jay. I knew I could land. I'm fine. Stop babying me.'

She turned and strode back into the woods, until she was swallowed by leaves.

Jayden sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if grandpa put too much wilderness in that girl."

Chapter 3

She sighed as she sat on the moss covered rock, listening to the water flow into the healing pond. Sometimes she wondered if Jayden really did understand her. It seemed like no one did.

No one had really understood why she couldn't make pudding from power or soup from a can, or why she'd never seen a car before, only read about them. They could never understand what it was like to be raised in the mountain.

It was at times like these when she felt so alone. She found a salamander in the dirt and picked it up, stroking its sleek body. The woods seemed to understand her better than anyone else did, speak to her when no one else could.

She knew she wasn't alone. She was surrounded by the vastness of trees and leaves, the crickets and wind that had lulled her to sleep so many nights, the rain that wept with her, and the sun that brightened her days.

And yet she was trapped in all she had ever known, since it was like no one else could ever understand the trees, or how she could call any bird and have it respond. It was like it was a foreign langue to them. She sighed. How could they now understand it all?

She sighed, finding a few tears on her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. Jayden wouldn't understand why she cried. It wasn't for herself, but for all that they didn't understand. All the things they'd lost.

Jayden couldn't see she'd been crying. She quietly slipped over to the healing pond and washed her face, being sure her reflection was clear of any shadows or tear tracks.

She sighed quietly. It was growing dark, and she'd have to be back for dinner, or Jayden would worry. Jayden didn't understand. No one understood. She left the understanding protection the trees and stepped back into eh Sheba house.

"How was everyone's day?" Ji asked.

Mike grinned. 'I found this sweet cheat code…." Ji frowned and Mike sighed. "Never mind."

Emily spoke. 'I've been mastering a new move."

Ji nodded approvingly. Mia held up a sketch book. 'I've been making plans for jess's hair style."

Jess shook her head quietly. "No, I like it the way it is."

Mia sighed. "But it'll get in the way of battle."

Jess shrugged. "I've dealt with it before; I can deal with it now."

"This isn't a time to be vain, Jess." Jayden said.

"I'm not vain!" she burst out, shooting him a look. She sighed. "I'm not vain. Seriously. I just like my hair the way it is. I've always worn it that way."  
Jayden sighed. "Fine. Did you meet anyone new in the city? Make a friend?"

Jess shook her head. "Jayden, I've never really had friends. Why would I have one now?"

Jayden dropped his fork onto his plate.

"_What_?"

She sighed. "Well, I've had friends, but not really many human friends. There was grandpa, and there was a hawk that I fed on the mountain, and a wolf with a broken leg I healed, and a raccoon I raised after his mom died, but that's pretty much it. There also was….'

"I don't want to hear anymore.' Jayden said quietly. "You've got to make a friend.'

"Jay, I don't want to. I have the entire forest, and animals, and you guys….'

"That doesn't count.' Jayden informed her.

"So you guys don't count?" Jess said, raising an eyebrow.

Jayden sighed. 'I mean someone your own age, Jess.'

'Jay, I…'

"Nope! Not saying anything until you make a friend." Jayden informed her.

"Jayden….'

Jayden said nothing and went back to eating.

She sighed. "You're not going to talk until I make a friend, are you?"

Jayden shook his head. She sighed and walked outside.

It was still dusk, but she chittered, and something glided down from a nearby tree and she quickly picked it up. It was a flying squirrel. It was afraid at first, but she stroked its large head and it calmed down in her grasp.

"hello, friend.' Jess said quietly, walking inside.

Jayden and the others were lounging in the living room when she entered.

"I made a friend.' She said quietly.

Jayden's eyes widened.

"That's a squirrel." He informed her.

Jess nodded. 'Yeah, of course it is. It's my friend." She stroked its head, and the squirrel looked around with large eyes.

"That doesn't count. Go put it outside while I go get the tetanus shots." Jayden said.

"Jay! Are you serious? You never said it had to be human!"

'Well I'm saying it now. Let that thing go and let me give you a tetanus shot."

Jess sighed but accepted defeat, walking out on the porch and setting the flying squirrel free. "Bye, Eugene.' She whispered.

She trooped quietly back inside and didn't flinch when Jayden gave her her tetanus shot, then curled into bed, fingering a small photograph. She and never had a friend like that, and she'd never have one again.

Chapter 4

She woke up and stepped quietly into the kitchen, to find the others waiting. She sipped her tea in silence and waited.

Finally, Kevin spoke. "You're going to school." He said.

"What? Kevin, I graduated from school already, and you know it."

"Yes, but you need a friend. You're going to just go through a day of school like normal and make a friend."

Jess sighed. "Jay, I really don't think this is a good idea."

Jayden raised an eyebrow.

She sighed and got in the truck anyways, figuring if she could just make a friend, everything would end.

Her first class was Spanish. She was already fluent in Spanish, thanks to watching the Spanish soap opera with Antonio. So she'd just have to get through it.

"Hola, chica. Me llamo Senora Rodgirgez. Y tu?"

"Hola senora. Me llamo Jess Sheba. Yo hablan espanion."

The teacher nodded, impressed, and she sat down. She noticed three girls staring at her, sort of sulking. She instantly didn't like them. They all had eye liner and other gunk smeared on their faces, there shirts and skirts were far too low cut, and there outfits were obviously color coordinated. She sighed, and watched them. One girl pulled out her phone and texted under the desk, and a moment later the other two whipped out there phones. They all giggled and stared at her.

Great. Three enemies. This was wonderful.

She sat alone at lunch. She didn't mind that no one sat with her, enjoyed the silence. She hated it here, couldn't wait until she could go home.

One of the three girls strode over, smile way to big.

"Do you have a cell phone?" she asked.

Jess nodded, pulling out her samurai morpher. It functioned as a cell phone, too.

The girl burst out laughing when she flipped it open. "A _flip_? You have a _flip_? That is so last year! It doesn't even have a key board!"

The girl staggered back to her table, still laughing, and soon her other two comrades were doing the same. A blonde had also joined the table, and she was clearly one of them, from her revealing attire.

She sighed. She seemed to be making so many enemies today.

She finished her lunch, left over fish, trout, her favorite. Antonio had no doubt packed it to try and make her feel better, but nothing could really revive this day.

The bell rang at three and she ran out of the room- history was far too boring for her liking. She reached her locker, undid the lock, and grabbed her backpack. Jayden would be waiting for her, if she ran out to the parking lot she'd get home faster. She stood at the base of the steps; Jayden wasn't there. She sighed, and her morpher dinged. She had a text.

Nylock. Can't pick you up until later. Sorry. Jay.

She sighed and started walking. Walking wasn't so bad. She wasn't that far from the Sheba house, anyway. She walked by another towering building and heard a yip of pain and a whimper.

She stopped and looked into the alley, hearing a clang and another whimper. She dropped her back pack quietly ad took a step inside.

The alley was dark, far too dark for her comfort, and she fought the urge to use her fire power to ignite her hand. She couldn't see three feet in front of her, but she knew what she was heading towards. A dog. A dog getting beat up by someone.

She reached the end, a dead end, to be exact, and found it. The four girls had corned a stray dog and were throwing stones at it while it yipped. One girl even smacked the poor thing's rump, hard. The girls laughed as the dog whimpered, and she noticed several cuts already on the mutt.

"Hey!"

The girls whirled to face her.

"Quit it. Just because you're bigger than that dog doesn't give you the right to beat it up!"

The blonde tossed her hair over her shoulder, taking a menacing step towards her.

"You want to do something about it?" the blonde asked.

She hid her anger, tried to force it back behind her eyes. She could take them, she could take all of them, and her samurai training was her greatest asset.

"I don't want any trouble." She stepped backwards, and the blonde stepped forwards.

"Well, you got trouble, so deal with it."

They three flanked the blonde, and two grabbed her wrists and held her, while one stood behind, making sure she couldn't pull free and run.

One kick to each of their shins, they would go down and she would backhand the blonde into the wall so hard she blacked out….

The stray dog scampered away. Well, that was something. She couldn't break free, couldn't do anything.

"Well, you're an idiot." The blond said, sinking her fist into her ribs. She was surprised at the strength of the blow.

"You're strange!" a blow to her eye, so hard it knocked her back and the two girls who held her pulled her up again.

"You're stupid!" her nose gushed blood.

"Ugly!" a kick to the ribs.

"Self-centered!" a kick to the ankle.

"Dumb!' an uppercut to the jaw.

'I'm dumb…' she panted. "And you've called me stupid, dumb, and an idiot, all of which mean the same things."

The blonde's eyes flared dangerously and the blows came harder, faster, until she could hardly see. She'd have to get away somehow. She was bleeding, and she knew she'd pass out soon if she didn't get away. She wasn't going to beg. She never begged.

She leaned back and the girls holding her wrists moved to catch her. She bolted, the force of her take off freeing her from their grasp. She faked out the one girl who blocked her exit and raced down the street.

She waited outside the gates of the Sheba house for a moment, breathing heavily. She doubled over, clutching her ribs. She was pretty sure one of them was broken. She quietly mopped the blood from her face. Jayden couldn't know, couldn't see, or he'd get all overprotective again.

Her ankle was throbbing, and she hid her limp, though everything screamed in pain.

She caught her breath, walking through the gate. Time to act normal again.

She entered to find Jayden and the others in the living room, celebrating a victory, no doubt. She hadn't been there, and she felt a pang.

"Hey Jess." Jayden said, grinning. "How was your day? Make a friend?"

She forced a small smile but shook her head. "Nope. It was alright, though."

Jayden beamed. "See, I told you it wouldn't be so bad. Now you just need a friend.'

She nodded. "I'll be in my room.' She said quietly, and turned, closing to door to the room she, Emily, and Mia shared. She quietly closed the door behind her and staggered over to her bed. She took short, shallow breaths, trying to stop the pain in her ribs.

She pulled the covers up over her so no one would hear, forced her face into the pillow and cried, letting the tears come freely now.

Chapter 5

She woke up in the morning light and staggered into the bathroom. Everything ached, purple bruises adorned her arms… she stared at the mirror in horror. No. She couldn't have a black eye. It would impossible to hide. She sighed. Might as well get it over with, anyways….

She trooped out into the kitchen, dressed for a day of samurai training.

The other rangers were chatting over breakfast.

Mia gasped when she saw her, and Jayden dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal.

"Who did this to you?' he demanded. Antonio was rushing forward with ice.

"Stop it. It was just some girls at school…."

"Some girls at school?" Mike looked shocked. "You got beat up by _some girls_?"

"Hey, you get beat but by some girls every day in training!" she shot back. "Besides, it wasn't like I could go samurai on them."

Jayden shook his head. "You're not going back to that school. Why'd they beat you up, anyways?'

"I told them to stop hitting a stray dog."

Jayden sighed, sitting down to think.

"Don't worry, Jess, we'll find some other way for you to make a friend…."

"I don't want a friend! You're the one so obsessed with getting me a friend I don't want! That makes me unfriendly, okay!" she stormed out of the house quietly and slipped into the woods, Jayden staring after her.

He let out a slow breath.

"Well, now I've done it." He muttered. "She's never going to make a friend now. I've scarred her for life."

She walked until he reached a moss covered rock that she enjoyed sitting on and started to cry again. She touched the photograph, two girls grinning and giggling, hugging one another in the photograph.

She buried her face in the moss and wept. "I don't know what to do, daze.' She said. "I miss you, so much! I'm afraid of the dark!' she kept crying now, tears soaking the moss, until there were no tears left to shed.

She hummed the song they'd sing together as they gathered berries to make into jam and things as they picked, and as they fished and gathered walnuts, but the notes were drown out by her tears.

Finally, her samurizer rang, but she had fallen asleep.

She let it ring, and then picked up.

"Hello?" she asked groggily.

"Northern china town, now!" Jayden said into the phone.

She jumped to her feet. It was going to be a long run to eastern China town, but she'd make it there. She couldn't let Jayden see she'd been crying, though. She morphed as she ran, sword ready.

The Nylock was squid like, with razors spiking from his numerous arms. His head was laced with ugly glowing blue stones.

"I'm burning up!" instantly his tentacles were on fire, spinning around and hitting the rangers from all directions.

"Uh!" Jayden hit the ground hard.

"I don't believe it!" Kevin cried. "That Nylock has fire symbol power!"

"Ice fang!" Instantly, deadly shards of ice flew from jess's symbol as she raced up, and the Nylock easily deflected them.

"Look out! He has fire power!" Mia warned, staggering to her feet.

"Good! Because I have anger issues to match!" jess cried, drawing another symbol. "Let it snow!"

The white ranger was the ranger of snow, and instantly the nylock was surrounded by whirling snowflakes.

"Hey! My fires going out!" cried the nylock, who staggered back. By the time the snow had stopped whirling, his skin was cracking.

"All this fire is drying me out! I'll be back, white ranger!" Declared the Nylock, rushing off.

Jess demorphed slowly, turning to hide her tear streaked face from Jayden.

"Jess?" Jayden placed a hand on her bruised shoulder and she flinched.

"Sorry. It's alright you didn't get him, though, I… I just want you to have a friend… I didn't mean for you to get beat up, and I'm sorry if I pushed it on you. I just don't want you to become a friendless hermit who lives all alone in the woods and forgets how to talk."

Jess whirled on his, and he saw the tear stains on her face.

"A friendless hermit!? Guess what, jay, I had a human friend once, but I don't now! I will never be a friendless hermit! Ever think I ran into the woods so often to get away from you and your friend-pushing!?" she turned and ran, this time not to the woods, but to the Sheba house, since she didn't want Jayden to think she would become a friendless hermit.

She sat on the bed for a few minutes, but finally, couldn't think of anything better to do and hopped into the shower.

The stream fogged the mirrors and seemed to stop her mind from reeling, her heart from aching, and she stood for a while, feeling the hot water run over her and wash away all the grief.

Jayden looked slightly shocked as Jess ran away. "What did I say?" he asked.

Mia punched him in the arm. "I'll tell you what you said! You told her you figured she'd become a friendless hermit if she kept going into the woods! She had a friend once, and all this making friends plan you had did was make her feel more lonely than ever! I mean really, how did you not get that?"

Jayden looked stunned. "You really think so? I didn't mean it literally. I just meant…."

Emily looked at him with an expression of pity in her eyes. "We know what you meant, Jayden, but it didn't sound very nice." She said delicately.

Jayden sighed. "I have no idea what I'm doing. She was crying, had been crying earlier. Why? She said she had a friend once…."

"Maybe you reminded her of painful memories." Emily suggested.

"Or reminded her of how trying to make friends got her beat up yesterday." Mike interjected.

Jayden sighed. "I am the worst cousin ever." He muttered.

"Don't say that." Emily said quietly.

"We'll try and figure things out with jess, if you want, since it's easier to talk girl to girl."

Jayden nodded. "Thanks, Em. I can't believe I screwed up so badly."

Emily sighed. "We'll work on communication later. Right now, I'll go take care of jess."

They started the trek back to the Sheba house.

Chapter 6

Kevin looked up from his book, still hearing the water running. "How long has she been in the shower, now?' he asked.

Antonio sighed. "Two hours." He said.

Ji walked in, looking stricken.

"Do any of you have an idea of why jess has been taking a shower for two hours?' he asked.

Mike nodded. "She's upset because Jayden told her she'd become a friendless hermit if she kept going into the woods."

Ji turned to Jayden, a look of shock on his face.

"You _what_?"

"I didn't do it intentionally!" Jayden said defensively. "I said I was sorry and that I was just afraid she'd… well, become a hermit if she stayed in the woods so long without a friend…."

Ji placed his hand in his forehead. "Jayden…."

"I don't see what that has to do with her taking a shower for two hours, though." Mike piped up.

Mia shot him a look. "That's because you're a guy, and guys are clueless." She said. "Girls take long showers when there upset because no one will both them."

"Oh." Mike said, realization dawning on him. "Or she could just be trying to drown herself." He suggested.

"What?" a look of fear crossed Jayden's fade.

"Mike!" Emily scolded. She turned to Jayden. "She's not drowning herself. I'll go check on her, if you want."

Jayden nodded, looking somewhat relieved. "thanks, Em." he said.

Emily nodded and strode into the girl's room.

Emily took a deep breath and stood beforethe bathroom that was off the girl's room.

She knocked on the door quietly.

"Go away, Jayden." She heard the voice on the other side say.

She quietly stepped inside.

"It's Emily." She said.

"Oh." Emily couldn't see jess on the other side of the curtain, and the room was filled with steam "Want to talk about it?" she asked.

Jess shook her head. "No, it hurts to much." She said."

"Sometimes it hurts too much _not _to talk about it." Emily said.

Jess was silent for a moment.

"Want me to bring you some clothes?" Emily offered.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Emily got the clothes and a towel and left them on the bathroom floor, leaving and allowing jess to get dressed.

Jess emerged into the room a moment later to find Emily waiting, sitting on the bed. She sighed.

"Look, Emily, I appreciate getting me the clothes and all, but I don't want you to go all shrink on me and start writing notes and stuff."

"What's a shrink?" Emily asked, wrinkling her face in confusion. Jess shrugged. "I Dunno. Heard them say it on one of Antonio's soap operas. I think it has something to do with crazy people.'

Emily nodded. "Don't worry, jess, I'm not a shrink. I'm your friend, and you can tell me anything."

"Anything?" jess asked cautiously.

Emily nodded. "Anything."

"I… I had a friend once… but now she's gone… and I miss her…." Jess started. Tears started falling down her face.

"Come here." Emily wrapped jess in a bear hug.

"It's alright, let it all out…." She soothed.

Jess sobbed into Emily for a good ten minutes, and then finally pulled away.

Emily handed her a tissue. "Want to talk about it?' she asked quietly.

Jess shook her head and blew her nose. "No, I just needed to get that out." She said quietly.

Emily nodded. "We all need to, some times. Anything you need?"

Jess nodded. "Don't leave me here.' She said quietly.

"I won't." Emily wrapped her young friend in another bear hug.

Jayden entered an hour later, unsure of whether to we worried or glad they hadn't answered his knock. He saw the girls curled up together on the bed and grinned. Emily really did work magic.

Chapter 7

At the other end of town, at a bus station, a small girl quietly exited. The bus ride had been seven hours, not counting the grueling ten mile walk down the mountain. She had spent most of her money, besides, and she still had no idea where she was headed. She sighed and sat down on the bench- she was in the heart of the city now. It was so scary, overwhelming, almost, for a girl who had spent her entire life on a sheep farm in the mountains to here.

She took a deep breath. She was tired. She'd find the rangers tomorrow. For now, she closed her eyes and slept.

"Jess?" Jayden found she was still curled up with Emily at six thirty the next day. They both looked so tired he didn't have the heart to wake them. He noticed Jess's black eye. If anything, looked worse, and her eyes were puffy. She'd been crying.

He felt something inside him ache at the thought he'd made his little cousin cry, and he so wanted to reach out and touch her hair, make her feel better, cry and beg her to forgive him.

But he knew he couldn't, and so he slipped into the main room and carefully pulled out the first aid kit, covering a bandage with medicine and tip-toeing back into the room, lightly placing it over jess's eye.

He planted a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

Jess woke up to find the bandage on her eye an hour later. Jayden. It was the first thought she had. He still cared, was still trying to say he was sorry about yesterday. She'd already forgiven him, anyways.

Just then the gap alarm went off. She carefully removed the bandage from her eye and grabbed her morpher.

Emily was already out the door, and she followed behind, sprinting after the rangers.

"White ranger, go!"

Instantly, she was morphed.

It was the same fiery nylock from the day before, wreaking havoc.

He seemed to have grown stronger.

"Some for you, and you, and you!" he said, grabbing onto people with his tentacles. The people screamed in terror.

"Drop them, nylock!" Jayden said, and the nylock obeyed, grinning. "Time to play." He said.

Jayden turned to Emily and Mike. "Get the people to safety." He ordered. They obeyed, rushing to help people get away from the area.

Antonio, Kevin, Mia, Jayden, and Jess remained.

"Time for you to go down, Nylock." Jayden said simply.

The nylock laughed. "You think you're fire symbol power will hurt me?"

"Blazing strike!" Jayden struck hard, hire hitting the nylock directly.

The nylock grinned, absorbing the blow.

"You've just made me stronger!" he announced.

"What?"

"Fire whip!" instantly the Nylock's tentacles were again burning. He relented as they were all on the ground.

"He's too strong…." Mia groaned.

Jess was already on her feet again.

There was a girl behind the Nylock, though. "Run, kid! Jess, look out, there's a girl behind it!"  
Kevin cried.

Jess was mesmerized for a minute. Was she dreaming? No, she was still there, black hair, blowing out behind her, eyes serious.

"Jessie?" she asked.

"Daze! Let's take this creep down together!' Jess yelled, charging forward.

The other girl did the same, drawing a sword and racing forward.

"What?" Kevin asked, shocked.

Jess demorphed, keeping only her spin sword in hand.

"What are you doing?" Jayden asked.

Jess turned to him. "We got this, Jay. Just stay back." She yelled, still running.

The girl she had called daze grinned. "Breaking Dawn style?" she asked.

Jess nodded. "Heck yeah."

"Yaaa!"

They both charged the Nylock, Jess jumping over his as a diversion while Daze slid underneath him, striking a blow.

"Hey!" the nylock cried. "Ice fang!' Jess yelled, while Daze dodged the deadly shards of ice.

"Darkness!" Daze took out something ancient looking and drew a symbol, which hit the nylock with shocking force. He fell back, lightening striking him, as Jess managed to get a blow on his side.

They each sliced off a tentacle.

"Time for me to get outta here!" cried to nylock, disappearing into as gap.

Both girls stood for a minute, grinning, breathing heavily.

"Nice moves." Jess commented. The girl she called daze grinned. "You too."

Jayden demorphed and strode up, along with the others. Emily and Mike rounded a corner and Kevin looked from girl to girl in confusion.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Jess grinned. "Meet my best friend, Daisy."

The girl shrugged. "You can call me daze. Everyone else does."

Jayden shot Jess another questioning look.

Jess sighed. "Look, I'll explain back at the Sheba house. Race you there, Daze!"

"Beat you!" Daze replied, racing after her friend. They disappeared into the woods.

Emily looked after them both, a bit surprised. "So that's who she was talking about…."

Jayden sighed "I have no idea what's going on. Let's all get back to the Sheba house, and Jess will explain."

The others nodded, and they all started the trek back.

Jess and Daze were sitting on the couch when they got back.

Jess had it turned to one of the Spanish soap operas Antonio liked, and was explaining it to daze.

"And that's Mark, he had a crush on Mazey but he doesn't know it…."

Jayden turned off the TV.

Jess shrugged. "Wasn't a good episode, anyway."

The rangers sat down on a couch opposite the girls and Ji entered.

"Alright, Jess, you're going to explain why you brought a stranger to the Dojo, why you demorphed in the middle of the fight on purpose, and what the heck you two were doing when you were fighting that Nylock."

Jess shrugged calmly. "Well, Mr. Jess-has-to-get-a-friend; this is Daze, my friend from the mountain."

Jayden looked a bit surprised. "You mean from when you lived there?"

Jess nodded. "Daze and I grew up together."

Jayden turned to daze quizzically. "You lived with jess?" he asked.

Daze shook her head "No, my father was a sheep farmer nearby. Jess and I would train together, though. Jess's grandfather taught me how to use a sword and fight."

Jess nodded. "That's what we were doing to the Nylock, actually. We invented a few good sword combos together, before I had to leave, and that's what we were doing on the Nylock."

Daze nodded. "I swore to myself that on that last night, after your house was destroyed, and you told me you'd leave to find your cousin in the morning, that I'd find you."

Jess nodded. "I hoped I'd see you again."

Daze nodded. "Yeah. I had to wait until after the spring lambing, though."

Jess grinned. "Ah, good times. How's Bucky?"

Daze grinned. "Still kicking. And Dad's doing just fine." Jess grinned.

"So, can Daze be a ranger?' she asked hopefully.

Jayden shot Ji a look.

Ji sighed. "We'll have to evaluate her skills." He said simply.

Jess grinned. "Yes!"

Jayden shook his head. "There's no guarantee, Jess." He said simply.

"Okay, evaluation starts now!' Jess said, racing outside with daze behind her.

Jayden carefully stepped into the ring against Daze outside, katana stick held in front of him. Daze was good- he could sense that she was devoted to the samurai cause- but something about her symbol power unnerved him.

Daze flipped behind him and struck.

Jayden barely blocked. An hour later, Ji called stop.

"What about your symbol power?' he asked.

Daze grinned. "Ready, Jess?' she asked.

Jess nodded. "Sure. I haven't done this in a while."

Daze pulled out a black feather. "Darkness, go!" her symbol was instantly drawn, descending on jess. Instantly, she was encased in a cocoon of darkness.

They all stared for a moment.

"Is she alright?" Jayden asked.

Just then, Jayden smelled smoke. Jess had ignited herself with her symbol power, and the darkness had burned away.

Jess grinned. "Finally."

She seemed completely fine.

Jayden turned to Daze, aghast "You're the ranger of Darkness?" he asked, shocked.

Daze shook her head. "No, I'm the ranger of night. Not darkness. Though I do have dark symbol powers."

Jayden looked a bit shocked for a minute. He turned to Ji for guidance.

Ji shrugged. "She does appear to have the blood of the black ranger."

Jess grinned. "Sure does. Jay's just afraid of the dark."

Jayden stared. "What?"

Jess shrugged. "I know you don't like the dark, Jay. Grandpa told me all Shebas hate it. It has something to do with always having fire at their fingertips. "

Jayden sighed. "Fine, I do hate the dark. How come you don't?"

Jess shrugged. "Who says I don't? I still hate it, but Daze helped me get over it."

"How?" Kevin asked.

Jess shot Daze a side long look. "She trapped me in a pitch-black cave for three hours."

"Hey, it was an accident!" daze said.

Jess shrugged. "Yeah, it was. And I did start your hair on fire that one time….'

"Yeah, and almost burned down the forest!"

"That was one time! Besides, I'm not the one who went to town and made all the lights go out in the church just so you could find that rat in the bell tower."

Daze rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I could tell them _tons _of stories about you. Like the time you ignited yourself and couldn't figure out how to extinguish for three days."

Jayden had to stifle a laugh.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Okay. What about the time you blinded your dad for three days with your darkness symbol so he wouldn't know you let all the sheep loose."

Daze shot her a look. "STBP." She said.

Jess sighed. "Fine." Then she turned to Ji, eyes lit up with excitement. "Can Daze stay?"

Ji shrugged. "She has enough symbol power. Now the only question is, where is she going to sleep?"

Jess grinned. "What about the attic? No one stays up there. We could put two beds up there, live in it."

Ji looked at her carefully. "Alright. I think that could be arranged. You two go start."

"Yay!" Daze grabbed jess by the arm and they raced inside.

Jayden stared after them. "What does STBP mean?" he asked.

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. Never heard it as text slang."

Mia nodded. "How would they even know text slang, anyways?" she asked. "They were raised on a mountain."

Kevin's brows furrowed. "You don't think they have their own langue, do you?"

Jayden sighed. "I have no idea."

Chapter 8

"It's so dark up here." Jess said, as they stepped into the attic. Daze grinned. "I love it."

Jess shuddered slightly. "I can deal with it, I guess. Why'd we fight in front of Jay and the rangers?"

Daze shrugged. "I don't know. You know we clash sometimes."

Jess nodded. "Yeah, I do. I hate it, though."

Daze nodded. "Me too. Sorry."

"Me too."

"That's why we invented the abbreviations, remember? You still remember what they mean, right?"

Jess nodded. "STBP. Some Things Better Private. Keeps us from going too far."

Daze nodded. "Exactly. I've missed you, Jessie."

Jess grinned. "Me too, daze."

Daze grinned. "Now let's dust this place off. Besides, we're entitled to a fight every now and then. Fire and night. The exact opposites."

Jess nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Hand me that dust rag, will you?"

Daze tossed it easily to her, and she carefully started dusting the floor.

She came down to get her things from Emily and Mia's room to find Mia wiping her eyes...

"What?' she asked.

Mia sniffed. "Nothing. It's just… you're growing up."

Emily shook her head. "She's just moving into another room, Mia. She'll be right above us."

Mia nodded. "I know, but…." Her voice cracked.

She started to cry quietly.

Jess shot Emily a look.

Emily mouthed the words go, and took her box of things and climbed the ladder in the hall back to the attic.

She found Daze was already working at unpacking her backpack.

"You bring the sheep?" she asked. Daze nodded. "I have yours too. I know you had to bring all the samurai stuff you could."

Jess nodded her thanks and smiled as Daze tossed her a stuffed lamb. It would go well with her sock monkey.

"So, what do you think of the team?' she asked quietly.

Daze shrugged. "Seem nice enough. I'm kind of nervous they won't accept me."

Jess shrugged. "Don't be nervous. I've already put in a good word for you. Don't worry."

Daze nodded. "Finally get that fire combo down?" she asked.

Jess nodded. "Maybe I could combine it with that darkness move you have. That would be sweet."

Just then, Ji called them down to the training yard.

"I've noticed a lack of team combos." He said quietly.

Jayden looked surprised. "But what about the beetle cannon?"

Ji shook his head. "That's just firing disks. As jess and Daze demonstrated today, to stand any chance against the nylock, we'll need team combos."

Jayden nodded. "Okay, so what do we do?" he asked.

Ji sighed. "Well, it requires immense trust."

He turned to daze. "Why don't we have you do darkness, creating cover while Jess gets to high ground, does a fire attack, Jayden follows from below, and then jess falls and he catches her."

Jayden nodded, turning to Jess carefully. "You trust me, cuz?" he asked.

Jess nodded. "Of course I do, jay."

There was a post about ten feet off the ground where she was supposed to jump to in the darkness. Ji had already set up the fake nylock.

Daze pulled out her ancient feather. "Darkness!" instantly, they were covered in a dark mist. "Phoenix fist!" Jess easily launched her attack through the darkness and went to fall back; knowing Jayden was below her, finishing his attack.

"Blazing strike!' Jayden was mentally panicking as he launched his strike, trying to combat the darkness that pressed in around him. He hated it. He was forgetting how to breathe, let alone remember….

Jess hit the ground hard in front of him.

She blacked out for a second, her head hitting the pavement hard. Colors flashed before her eyes, and everything was black as she shut down for a minute.

"Jess!"

Instantly, Daze had dissolved the dark mist, and the team was rushing forward.

"What happened?" Ji asked.

"Did she twist in air and panic? Because then you couldn't have caught her."

Jayden shook his head, kneeling down beside her. "No… I… it was my fault…."

Jess's eyes opened and she looked around.

"Jay?" She was instantly sitting up, looking around for him, scared.

"It's alright, jess, I'm right here." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

He kicked himself mentally. Of course, jess had panicked because she had thought he hadn't caught her since he was in trouble, when he was really just panicking.

He noticed blood dribbling down her chin.

"Your mouth…."

"I'm fine. Just bit my tongue." She said, getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

"Why didn't you catch me?' she asked quietly.

Jayden shook his head. "I… I had a moment…." He said quietly. Jess nodded understanding.

Ji turned to Jess. "Do you want to try to exercise again?" he asked. Jess nodded.

Ji turned to Daze. "Alright, you're going to stand under the post and catch jess this time, alright?"

Jess looked surprised. "No, I still trust Jayden. He can try to catch me again, I won't flinch."

Ji nodded. "I know you do. Just try it with daze, alright?"

Jess nodded and did as she was told.

Jayden stepped out of the arena and watched with the others, feeling like a failure.

He realized why Ji had taken him out, and he knew he deserved it. He's let his panic get in the way of him catching Jess. That was unforgivable. And Jess had made it a point to say that she still trusted him…. He felt even worse than when he started out.

The mist was covering the training area once again. They couldn't see anything through it but the black cloud ahead of them.

Jayden saw the blast of fire as Jess did phoenix fist.

He saw nothing as Daze did her darkness attack, and suddenly he was worried. Daze wasn't any bigger than Jess. How could she catch her from ten feet up?

Just then the mist cleared. Jayden saw Daze holding Jess confidently.

Jess grinned. "Nice attack, Daze." She said simply.

Daze nodded. "Thanks. Now get down. You're a lot heavier than a lamb.'

Jess laughed and obliged, letting Daze set her down. Ji nodded his approval. "Now Jess, you catch daze."

Jess nodded. "Got enough symbol power left?" she asked. Daze nodded. Jayden realized Daze didn't have as much symbol power as Jess.

But Daze was already drawing the symbol. "Darkness!" instantly, they were hidden from view again.

"Blazing strike!" Jess struck, fire flying through the dark and striking the Nylock dummy perfectly.

There was a noise and a grunt, like someone else had hit the pavement.

Jayden hoped Jess hadn't missed daze. The mist cleared to show jess and Daze on the ground, laughing.

Jess had managed to catch Daze by diving, and she was on her knees, laughing as daze imitated her catching.

Daze shrugged. "You should've let me hit the ground. Knock some sense into me.

Jess shook her head. "I'd never do that." She said. Jayden felt the comment sting.

"And I just surprised Jayden. I did fall a bit early."

They both knew it was a lie. Jess had fallen at the perfect time. Jess was trying to make him feel better, he realized. He hated himself even more.

Ji nodded. "You two clearly have that down. You're excused from training for the day. I take it was have stories to catch up on, anyways."

Jess grinned. "Thanks, Ji." She said, turning to daze.

"Want to go to the woods? I found this awesome mushroom grove…"

Daze nodded. "Let's do it." They both raced out the gates into the woods.

Emily smiled as she stared after them. "There complete opposites, darkness and light, and yet they get along perfectly."

Ji nodded. "It probably has something to do with being raised on the mountain." He speculated.

Kevin nodded. "I'd hate to cross those two. It's like they're inseparable."

Mike nodded. "Totally. I wonder if Daze is any good at video games...,"

Jess grinned as she raced through the woods with Daze beside her. It was like there were back on the mountain, like old times…..

They stumbled into the mushroom grove, out of breath and happy.

"Oh!" Daze grinned as she looked at the mushrooms. "These would be great in soup!" she said. Jess nodded. "That's what I was thinking…."

Just then, she noticed something in the distance. It was a sheer rock cliff, far in the distance.

"See that cliff?" she asked, pointing towards it. Daze nodded. "Want to climb it?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah, really bad."

They started to walk towards the cliff, not talking, instead listening to the sounds of the forest. A squreill chattered in a tree, a snake slithered away…. They didn't need to talk as they walked, they could tell what the other was thinking. It was god to be together again.

They reached the rocky cliff face, and Daze easily found a foot hold, Jess finding one beside her.

The incline was more of a hill than a sheer rock face, and it seemed odd o try to climb it when they could walk with only a slight difficulty, but climbing made it seem like they were on the mountain once again. They'd done this so often at home it was second nature. Twenty feet up they reached the mouth of a large cave. It was pitch black inside, and jess knew Daze wanted to go inside, so she started forward.

She ignited her hand, since she still didn't like complete darkness, and they stepped inside. Instantly, jess noticed something strange. There were veins of a golden stone in the rock walls.

She was already striding forward, towards small nook in the rocks. There was an odd looking blue stone there….

As soon as she had pulled it out, he rock entrance came tumbling down, sealing the mouth of the cave.

"Jess?" Daze was staring at her carefully.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I think we're trapped."

"Really? I couldn't tell." She said sarcastically. Daze smiled slightly and they sat down, facing one another on the rock floor. Jess's fire lit up the cave.

"Well, now what? Can you call the rangers?"

Jess pulled out her samurizer to find it wasn't working. "No. It's like the calling mechanism won't work, but the signal is still online…."

Daze removed the rock from her hand and smashed it against the ground. It crackled, revealing power disk. Jess gasped. An old power disk. It was blue, probably from the blue ranger.

Daze stared carefully. "So, we just stay here until your friends come?"

Jess nodded. "Pretty much. I don't think that we have enough symbol power to move the rocks, so."

Daze nodded. "This is so boring." She said quietly.

Jess shrugged. "Want to look for interesting rocks?"

Daze nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Jayden studied the two empty places at the table. It was odd, both girls had gone missing. Mia was cooking, so it would have been the smart thing to do, but he could sense something was off.

"Something the matter, Jayden?" Ji asked. Jayden nodded. "Yeah, Jess and Daze aren't back yet."

Ji didn't look worried. "They probably lost track of time."

Jayden nodded. "Yeah, you're probably eight. Let me just call them." he flipped open his samurizer and punched in Jess's call code.

She didn't answer.

Jayden tried again, getting a bit nervous. Still nothing.

"Ji, she's not picking up."

Antonio was already on his own morpher. "I'm getting a signal, but nothing when I try to call."

Kevin nodded. "Can you track it?' he asked hopefully.

Antonio nodded. "I can try…."

Just then, the gap alarm went off.

"Want to see if we can get out of here by ourselves?' Jess asked. It had been ten minutes, and she was getting Antsy. Jayden normally always noticed, unless he was busy with Nylocks….

Daze nodded. "Sure, why not? Do you have enough symbol power to get a fire going?' jess nodded. "Yeah, I might be able to light everything up for an hour or so."

"Then let's get going."

Jess felt her way along the cave walls until she felt dirt.

"Daze, we can dig our way out!"

"Sweet! You have earth symbol power, right?"

She shook her head. "Yellow ranger, remember?"

Daze nodded. "Yeah. Well, I guess we have to do this the old fashioned way, then."

"Let's start digging."

They grabbed there spin swords and started jabbing the dirt.

"Something is definitely wrong if they aren't here.' Jayden said, as the moogers converged on them... The Nylock was spitting fire all around.

"Rangers together, samurai forever!"

"Where's the white one?" demanded the nylock. "And that other kid, too. I want payback!"

Jayden didn't admit he had no idea.

He just charged.

"This is going to take forever!" Daze said, leaning back.

Jess sighed. "Wait! I have an idea! Hand me the disk, will you?"

"We have no idea what it even does! It could explode or something! Are you sure you want to try it?" Daze asked.

They both grinned. "Heck yeah."

Just then, the dirt they had been chipping away at fell, revealing the dusky sky.

"Let's get out of here!"

Daze boosted jess out first, since Jess hated the dark, and Jess pulled daze out a moment later.

Instantly, there morpher beeped.

"I got a text! In the west end of the city."

Daze nodded. "Let's go!"

They rushed in to find the rangers on the ground.

"Looks like you need some help." Jess said, holding her spin sword ready.

"Jess, morph already!" Jayden said.

She sighed. "I don't need a costume to prove I'm awesome." She said, and started rushing the moogers.'

Instantly, they were demolished in lights of flame.

The fiery squid nylock grinned. "Payback time!"

He ignited his tentacles and began striking.

He hit both girls full in the face and they went flying back.

"Still so awesome?" Jayden asked.

Jess staggered to her feet. "Not now, cuz." She said.

Just then, the nylock breathed fire, and they barely dodged.

"Why don't we try to disk, Daze?' jess asked.

"What disk?" the rest of the rangers asked.

"Well, it is life threatening, so yes!" daze said, pulling the disk from her pocket.

"Hey, I'm not finished with you yet!" the nylock yelled.

Daze tossed the disk to Jess, who expertly caught it and placed it on her spin sword.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked.

Jess shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Daze, this might have a little bit of a kick back. I need you to brace me."

"Got it." Daze was already behind her, ready to hold her steady.

"I'm getting impatient!" the fire nylock yelled.

"Disk! Do whatever you're supposed to do!" Jess yelled, striking.

Instantly, blue flames covered her sword as she struck, landing right on the Nylock.

"Hey! That's not supposed to happen! I can't absorb it!" the nylock cried, as he exploded.

Daze had barely been able to hold Jess steady, and they both tried to catch their breath as the blade stopped burning.

The team rushed over to them.

"Where did you get that disk?" Jayden asked.

Just then, the monster bloomed to mega mode.

"I'll step on you rangers!" he bellowed.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. Wolf folding zord!"

The others called there zords, too. Wolf zord stood by, waiting for orders.

"Jess, think you can create a diversion?" Jayden asked.

Jess nodded. "Sure. Let's go, wolf zord!" she pressed the control forward, and wolf zord leaped at the fire nylock, attacking fiercely.

"I didn't mean get yourself killed!" Jayden said, shocked.

"It's a diversion, okay! It was all I could think of! Uh!" jess was thrown around as the fire nylock tried to beat wolf zord down.

"Katana blade! Slash!" Jayden ordered.

Wolf zord jumped out of the way as they struck the fire nylock.

"Wolf zord, ice fang!" Jess drew her symbol carefully, sending the ice shards flying at the nylock, who struggled to fend them off.

"Double katana slash!" Jayden yelled, as the double blades slashed the nylock. The nylock simply side stepped, and the slash hit wolf zord, sending him into a building.

"Jess!" Jayden yelled. Jess struggled to get to her samurizer. She was lying on the floor of wolf zord. She'd slammed into something, hard, some of the controls had exploded… she was going to black out….

"Daze, take over." She muttered into her morpher, before she blacked out.

Daze jumped into the zord hurriedly, making it get to its feet.

She tried to get a hold on Jess, who why lying on the floor.

"Don't worry, jess, I got this.' She said.

She carefully placed the disk on the controls.

"Disk, do something!" she yelled.

The disk began to spin, and instantly wolf zord struck again and again, his fur igniting with blue licks of flame as he struck.

"Final strike!" Daze yelled and the wolf zord lunged. The Nylock fell.

"This isn't supposed to happen!" the nylock cried as he exploded.

They all exited there zords.

Jayden saw Daze dragging jess's unconscious form across the ground.

"Come on, Jessie." She muttered.

"We… have to get home…."

Before she could say anything else, Daze blacked out, too, falling onto the pavement.

"Daze!" Jayden rushed towards both of them, knowing he could only carry one.

He turned to Kevin. "Can you take Daze?" he asked.

Kevin nodded "Sure.' He easily scooped up daze, while Jayden did the same for Jess.

"They both look terrible." Kevin remarked.

Jayden noticed Daze still clutched something in one had. The disk.

He carefully placed it in his pocket.

"It must have taken a lot of symbol power out of them." He said.

Emily nodded "Yeah, to be that amazing, it had to have."

"Let's get these two home." Mia said, looking worried. Jayden nodded, and they headed back to the Sheba house.

Chapter 9

Daze moaned and rolled over. Thoughts were crashing through here head, none of them making sense.

"Jess!" she yelled.

"What?" Jess snapped out of her sleep in the bed next to hers and sat bolt upright.

"It's the wrong color!" daze cried.

"What's the wrong color?" jess asked.

"I don't know!" daze cried.

Jess gasped. "you're right!"

"will you two please make sense?" Jayden asked, walking over and placing a wet cloth on each of their foreheads. The battle with the Nylock had made them both exhausted and sick.

"How do you feel?" Jayden asked.

Jess sighed. "Like that time we got wasted."

"You what!?" Jayden demanded.

Jess sighed. "I thought it was juice, but it was whiskey."

Daze smiled. "That was fun. Until you fell off the roof and we ended up in the sheep pasture singing in the middle of the night. Did you put that in the scrap book?"

Jess grinned. "'course I did. You still have it?"

Daze nodded, pulling it out from her backpack. In handwriting that looked like a child's, it read,

Daze & Jessie's Adventures

Jayden stared quietly…. "When did you guys make that?" he asked.

"Started when we were three, and grandpa got me a camera for my birthday, so we started using pictures and stuff. We even figured out how to color ink and make paint from berries and stuff."

Jayden nodded, impressed. "Can I look at it?"

Jess shook her head, grinning. "Sorry cuz, but what happens with the sisters stays with the sisters. Besides, you'd know all our secrets if you read it."

"Totally." Daze agreed, placing it back under her bed.

"So, when can we get out of bed?" Jess asked.

"When your fevers break."

Jess sighed. "Jay, come on."

Jayden shook his head. "It's for your own good. Ji's analyzing the disk, but it clearly took a ton of symbol power…."

"Plan 366, now!" Daze whispered.

Instantly, the girl's both had sad eyes trained on Jayden.

"What are you doing?" Jayden asked.

"Puppy eyes. Please, Jay?" She asked.

"I… no." Jayden said, shaking his head. But the eyes really were getting to him….

"Fine. You can get up if you promise you'll take a nap later."

"Bingo!" Jess said, high fiving daze. "Let's go bother Kevin!" they raced down the stairs.

Jayden sighed. He couldn't believe he'd given into puppy eyes!

"Kevin! What are you doing!?" jess yelled, running over to him.

"I… I'm reading…." Kevin said. "you two shouldn't be up."

Daze shook her head. "Jayden said it was okay."

Kevin nodded. "Alright, then. What's with you two? Why are you so energetic?"

"Because we've been unconscious for two hours! That's like, an entire night's sleep!" daze said.

Jess grabbed her and dragged her into the kitchen.

"Jay showed me the coolest thing! You can make pudding here, and it comes in a box!"

"No way!"

Five minutes later, Jayden was helping them clean up the kitchen.

He sighed. "Jess, remember when I said that mixing pudding doesn't mean use the blender?"

"Opse. Well this time I remembered to put in the milk, right?"

Jayden nodded "yeah, I guess you did do that part right. But next time, if you have to use the blender, put on the lid."

Jess nodded. "Yeah, I got really excited 'cause I was hyper and forgot that part too."

Jayden looked over at the girls.

"You're both covered pudding." He said.

Jess nodded. "Yeah, we know. This is definitely one for the scrap book."

"I'll get the camera!" daze ran into her room. They snapped a picture. Jess grinned. "We'll put that one in tonight. And next, I can teach you how to make soup from a can!"

"No, we're done cooking for the day!" Jayden hurriedly suggested.

"why don't you two go play outside?"

Jess nodded. "Alright."

Jayden sighed and sat down on the couch, watching them play outside.

"They are definitely going to be a handful." Jayden said, sighing.

Mia nodded. "At the daycare, we never had kids who were so… energetic."

Mike nodded. "Do you think we should bring them inside? I mean, they do have fevers and all."

Jayden shook his head. "no, I think we'll watch and see how they do."

Jess was sitting on the porch with daze. "Hey, you got pudding on your face." Daze said, scraping a smudge of pudding off jess's face and sucking her finger.

"wow! That's good pudding!"

"Let me try!" Jess scraped some pudding off Daze's face.

"Wow! That is good pudding!"

"Aren't you glad to see them so happy, though?" Emily asked.

Jayden nodded. "Yeah, it's nice she has a friend. But now, they'll be more trouble than ever."

"get back here!" Daze yelled as she chased jess around the yard. "you still have pudding on your face!"

Jayden sighed.

Chapter 10

Ji felt both girl's foreheads at dinner that night. "Good news. Looks like your fevers have broken.' Ji said.

Jess grinned. "And Jayden said we needed naps." She said. Daze rolled her eyes.

"hey, you were really beat up after you used that disk." Jayden pointed out.

Jess nodded. "What does that disk do, anyways?" she asked.

Ji sighed. It's a fire enhancement disk. It enhances fire power. That's why you were so drained, jess. Even when Daze was using it, it was still draining your symbol power, but it took hers as well to keep it under control."

"Cool." Jess nodded. "So, Jay gets the disk, I take it?"

Ji nodded. "His main element is fire, so it will work best with his powers…."

"That's not fair, Ji. She was the one who found it." Jayden said.

Jess shook her head. "its fine, Jay. It'll work best with your symbol powers. Besides, I'm not sure I have enough Sheba blood to even use it again.'

Jayden shook his head. "You're always Sheba, jess. Yu just have snow symbol power too."

"Whatever. I'm better with my fire power. Snow is always so… melty."

Jess finished dinner and put her dishes in the sink.

"Okay, to bed, both of you." Ji said.

"but Ji, it's not even seven thirty!" daze complained.

Jayden sighed. "You both worked hard today. Don't you have something to put in your scrap book, anyways?"

Jess nodded and grinned. "Fine. But we might not sleep, exactly…."

Jayden rolled his eyes. "At least act like it, so I don't catch you.'

"Okay. Night, guys." Daze said as she climbed the ladder to the attic.

"Night girls." Ji replied, as everyone else chorused there goodnight.

Jess carefully glued the picture into the scrap book.

Underneath it, daze wrote, _Our first time making pudding from a box!_

Jess grinned. "It's beautiful. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Daze shrugged. "I was thinking we climb trees, work on our symbol power, maybe see who's the better swordsman….'

Jess grinned. "Sounds like a plan. Now, do you want to sleep, our have a symbol war?"

Daze grinned. "Symbol war it is!"

Jayden climbed the ladder the next day to find them both sprawled on the floor, asleep. He smiled slightly and placed them each in their beds. They could sleep a little longer….

The gap alarm went off, and instantly, Jayden jumped down the ladder. The team would have to take this Nylock on without the girls.

They raced over to the town park to find a screeching Nylock.

It screamed, causing people to fall and claw at their ears in pain.

"Quit it, nylock!" Jayden said

The nylock only screeched in response.

"Ugh!"

They all felt their ears. Everything was dim, muffled.

"Attack from the sides!" Jayden yelled.

"what?' Mia asked. They were all deaf.

"We got this!" jess ran up in her pajamas, daze behind her.

Jess's pajamas had flames on the pants, while daze's were entirely black except for little moons.

"Wonderful outfits, girls. Are you ready for a nap? Because my screeching will knock your lights out.' The nylock declared.

"I don't think so!" jess flipped open her morpher. Daze did the same. Antonio had finally finished daze's morpher.

"White ranger, go!"

"black ranger, go!"

Instantly, they were morphed.

"Cool." daze said, looking at her outfit.

"Let's kick butt!" Jess yelled, charging forward.

The nylock screeched, and jess laughed. "You'll have to be a lot louder to bother us, Nylock!"

"ha!" daze expertly slashed the nylock.

"OOOOOOOO!" the nylock yelled, waves of sound knocking both girls back hard.

Jayden, though deaf, could tell they needed help and morphed.

"Ahhh!' he charged forward, along with the rest of the rangers.

"Daze, you alright?" Jess asked. The other rangers were already charging forward.

Daze nodded, and Jess helped her to her feet.

"Let's go this thing." Jess said.

"Monkey pow pow style?" Daze asked.

"Definitely."

They both charged, meeting each of the Nylock's silver blades,.

"What? You two back again? You're making my head hurt!" the nylock cried.

"Jayden, now!" daze yelled.

"What?" Jayden asked.

Jess sighed. "He's deaf. It's the Nylock's screaming. Looks like we'll have to do this ourselves!" she said, punctuating the last word with a stab to the Nylock's torso.

He whirled, his blade barely missing her.

Jess kicked his side, while Daze drew a symbol.

"Darkness! Blinding night!"

Jess rolled to the side as the Nylock was encased in darkness, a cocoon wrapping around him.

Jess motioned everyone forward.

"Let's finish this!"

They all converged on the nylock, who exploded.

"nice moves sister!" daze said, high fiving Jess.

Just then, the nylock bloomed into mega mode. "I' m really going to scream about this one!" he declared.

"Let's go!"

"Lion foldingzord!"

"Dragon foldingzord!"

"Bear foldingzord!"

"Turtle foldingzord!"

"Ape foldingzord!

"Wolf folding zord!"

"Octi-zord! Let's help out!"

They all jumped into their zords, daze manning the beetle zord.

"guys, I have an idea." Jayden said. "Give me your disks."

"What?' they all chorused. Just then, the nylock began beating on the mega zord.

"Daze! Let's pinch this guy!"

Daze obeyed, pinching the Nylock's leg with the beetle zord's pinchers and flipping him over.

"Wolf zord, full fury!" the wolf zord pounced on the nylock, sharp fangs tearing at him.

"Beetle zord, pincer spin!' The pincers drilled into the nylock as Daze pushed it forward.

"final strike! Wolf zord, night howl!"

The wolf zord leaned back and howled, the sound waves flying at the nylock. "No! I'm supposed to blow you away! Not the other way around!" the nylock cried as he exploded.

"Samurai rangers, victory is ours." Jayden said, grinning.

"What?" they all chorused.

Back at the Sheba house, Ji wrote on a piece of paper.

Your hearing will return in a day or so. Until then, write out what you need.

Jayden grabbed a mini chalkboard and wrote.

How come jess and daze weren't affected?

Ji turned to the girls.

Daze grabbed a small dry erase board and marker.

We were. We're deaf for now, too.

Kevin looked confused.

They how come you acted like you could hear one another when you fought the nylock?

Jess took the marker and white board from daze and wrote,

Because we knew what the other was going to do. We can figure out what the other's thinking, kind of. We figured out the other's battle strategy, so we don't have to communicate to fight. We just like to hear ourselves talk.

Mia grinned.

I get it. There are these girls at my family's day care who can finish one another's sentences, they're such good friends.

Daze nodded.

Yeah, we always do that.

Daze doodled a pig on her white board and grinned.

Jess added wings to the drawing. Daze grew a picture of Kevin while he was angry, and Jess added steam coming out of his ears.

Emily laughed, and Kevin just shook his head, amused.

Jess turned on the TV to an old western and turned on the subtitles.

Daze gave her a look and she sighed, then returned with tow bowls of popcorn and cans of soda.

Jayden raised his eyebrows at Ji.

So they really do know what the other is thinking.

He wrote. Ji nodded his agreement.

Jayden felt a pang, remembering the training exercise, ho he had dropped Jess. How was he going to compete with someone who could read his little cousin better than he could?

Just then, the girls both strode over. Jess sat on his lap, and Daze next to him, both leaning against him as they watched the old movie.

Mia smiled at the sight and Mike raised his eyebrows.

Jayden looked side-ways at Ji. What was going on?

Ji just shrugged. Then Jayden smiled as he realized it. Jess always sat on his lap, and daze had left her father behind on the mountain. So they _both _needed someone to guide them.

That helped his guilt a little. But still, he felt a bit jealous that daze had such a special bond with his cousin.

Chapter 11

They all awoke startled to hear something. Hear- they hadn't been able to hear in awhile.

It was the gap alarm.

Jess ran up and touched the map. "West park road! By the arcade!'

She was already out the door, Daze beside her. The other rangers followed.

This nylock was dragon like, almost the replica of master Xandred with the ugly face of a spider.

He had spindly arms, as well.

All he was really doing was chasing people around. It was a daycare center, though, so the children were screaming and running around.

Mia's expression changed from one of horror to one of determination.

"Let's go, nylock!" She ordered, once she was morphed.

"Antonio, Kevin, Emily, get the kids out of here." Jayden said.

They obeyed, rushing forward to help the kids.

"Let's handle this creep." Mia said, pulling out her sky fan.

Daze grinned. "I love spiders. But this is one I'm willing to crush.'

Jayden nodded. "Let's go, girls."

They rushed forward.

But each of the spiders leg's blocked there attacks, and still others managed to keep them from his weak spot, the head.

Just then, His leg grabbed jess, pulling her close to him, while his other knocked away his sword.

"Mmph!" His leg covered Jess's mouth as he continued to fight the other rangers away.

"Jess! Hang on!" daze cried, trying to duck under one of the Nylock's legs to get it. She faked right and scrambled towards Jess, when a leg grabbed her, too.

"Daze!" Jess tried to push her friend away while the rangers fought off the legs of the nylock, but he was too quick.

Suddenly, a gap appeared beneath then, and they and the Nylock fell through.

They landed in the forest, near a creek. The spider Nylock carried them both to the trees. He used one leg to write a symbol, and instantly Jess was bound by black spider silk. He did the same with Daze.

They squirmed slightly. Then Daze spoke. "It's cutting off our symbol power.' She said. Jess nodded.

"I have an idea, though." She whispered. The spider Nylock was weaving a web around them, no doubt the strands would prevent Jayden from sensing there symbol power.

Daze nodded slowly as Jess explained. They hadn't demorphed yet. Just then, the spider nylock disappeared into the nether world.

"Now! While he's gone!' jess said,.

Back at the Sheba house, Jayden was pacing. "I can't sense jess's symbol power anywhere." He muttered.

Ji sighed. "We need to remain level headed about this if we hope to get the girls back."

"At least they're together. It's like when jess is with Jayden. She always fights stronger. The same is true when she has daze with her." Emily pointed out.

Jayden nodded, suddenly realizing it was true.

"But how do we get them back? Did they take them to the nether world?" Kevin asked.

Jayden shrugged. "I have no idea. But we have to trust the girls know what the stakes are. They'll find a way out, and if we can, we'll help them."

As he spoke, the gap alarm went off.

"Harver towers!" Mia cried. They rushed out the door.

Jess looked over at daze. They had both still remained morphed, but hopefully, the plan would work.

She watched as Jayden and the other rangers ran up at the base of the building.

She and Daze stood on either side of the spider nylock.

"Hello, rangers." The spider nylock called down,.

"Now, it is time for you to choose which you want spared."

Jayden stared up at them. Both girls stood, appearing unperturbed.

"Give them both back, now!" he called up.

The nylock laughed. "The ranger of darkness is needed. She is the key to opening up a portal for the sanzu. You can have your puny white ranger. The last thing we need is one more Sheba."

The nylock pushed the white ranger off the edge.

"Jess! Trust me!" Jayden rushed forward as his cousin fell, planning his move. He'd have to get her, she'd have to trust him to catch her….

Jess landed perfectly in his arms. He sighed with relief. "Jess." He said, feeling weak with relief. Then he remembered Daze.

"Daze! Hang in there!" he yelled, setting his cousin down beside him. She stood, staring up at her best friend.

"I'll never open the portal!" Daze cried.

The spider nylock laughed. "Oh yes, you will, black ranger. This symbol will allow me to control your dark powers!'

He drew a black symbol and sent it flying towards Daze. It hit her full in the chest and black mist formed around her.

Daze hit her knees. "No…." she muttered.

"Daze!" they were completely helpless, Jayden realized.

Daze tried to fight as she knelt on the roof of the building, breathing heavy, but she couldn't.

The spider nylock grinned. "Rise, my child."

Daze obeyed, getting to her feet.

"Open the portal!" he cried.

"Daze! No!' Kevin yelled.

Daze had withdrawn her black ancient feather, though.

Suddenly, she dropped it off the building. It landed on the ground in front of Jess.

Daze turned to the spider nylock.

For a moment, Jayden thought she wasn't possessed by evil. Then she spoke.

"Let me write it with a dark relic." She said quietly.

The nylock laughed. "Your very hands are dark relics, the blood that flows through your veins. Write it now, my slave."

"Phoenix flame! Go!" Daze suddenly drew a symbol in red, and a phoenix of flame swooped from the sky, striking the nylock full in the face.

He fell to his knees, sparks flying from him.

"No mega mode for you!" Daze cried, drawing the symbol to stop him from going into mega mode.

He was going to explode any second.

"Darkness!" Jess yelled from below, writing the symbol out with Daze's feather. Instantly, they were shrouded by black mist... Daze fell back off the top of the building.

"Daze!" Jayden knew he'd have to catch her, too. Her life depended on it. The darkness pressed around him, but this wasn't a game anymore. He pushed his fear aside and jumped forward, catching Daze before she hit the ground, too, landing on his knees.

"Thanks." Daze said, getting to her feet.

"Mist, dissolve." Jess called. Instantly, the mist was gone.

"What the heck is going on?' Mike asked. "You two have the same symbol power?"

Daze walked to stand beside Jess. "Hardly. Though it would be kind of cool to be sisters."

Jess nodded. They both removed their helmets, revealing Jess dressed as the black ranger, and Daze dressed as the white.

"Huh?" Kevin asked.

They both started laughing. Daze grinned.

"Jessie and I both knew my dark symbol power could be harnessed by nylock to open a portal, so Jessie and I switched outfits, that way the possessing darkness symbol wouldn't affect Jessie, since she has no dark symbol power."

Jess nodded. "Yeah. So while you were catching me, you were really catching Daze, and I just had to fake being Daze so I could destroy the nylock. It's a good thing our outfits are the same size."

"Brilliant." Kevin said.

Jess demorphed and handed daze her morpher back. "Thanks. It took a little time to engineer, but we did it. But still, white is my color."

Antonio grinned. "Always, snowball." He assured her.

Jess turned to Jayden. "Oh, and nice catch, cuz. Can we get ice cream now?"

Jayden nodded still a bit shocked. "Yeah, sure…."

"Chocolate!" daze yelled, rushing off. "Totally!" Jess said, racing after her.

Jayden smiled. "At least they can agree on something." He said, causing everyone to laugh.

Later that night, after a hearty victory celebration, Daze lay across Jayden's lap, while Jess leaned against him on the couch, both asleep. An old western movie they had wanted to watch played on the TV in front of him.

Jayden smiled as he looked at the sleeping girls in front of him. Maybe having Daze around wouldn't steal his cousin from him. In fact, having daze around seemed to bring out the fighting side of Jess. And Daze wasn't that bad a fighter, either.

Jayden looked up at the movie. It wasn't his favorite, and Jeopardy was on. The remote was beside him, and held have to move his arm and disturb the girls, so he just sat.

"Man, you're a chick magnet!' Mike said, and everyone laughed.

"More like I'm a pillow. All they ever do is sleep on me." Jayden said, meaning the girls.

Mia nodded. "And fall off buildings so you an catch them." They all laughed again. Emily snapped a picture and disappeared into her room.

She emerged a moment later with something under her am, handing it to Jayden. "I figured you'd like this." She said, smiling slightly.

Jayden looked at Emily's curling handwriting on the cover.

Jess, Daze, & Jayden's Adventures

Jayden carefully opened it to the first page.

The day Jayden figured out Jess was his cousin.

There was a picture of Jess asleep, and Jayden asleep as well.

"Aww! You two look so cute together!" Mia cried.

Jayden flipped the page gain.

The day Jess found Daze.

Jess was grinning as she stood beside Daze on the training floor.

The day we all went deaf.

Jess and Daze were sitting watching a movie while the others sat on a couch in the background.

The day they tried to make pudding from a box.

There was a picture of Jess and Daze, along with Jayden cleaning up the pudding mess. Both girls were covered in pudding.

The day they both jumped off a building.

Jayden looked at the picture Emily had taken just now of him and the girls. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"thanks, Emily, I… this is really cool." Emily nodded. "you haven't seen the best part, yet." She said.

Jayden turned another page.

To Be Continued….

Kevin grinned. "You'll have to take a lot of pictures to keep up with those two." He said.

Mike nodded. "totally."

Jayden sighed. "Yeah, they're like little balls of symbol power and energy…. But they're cute when they're sleeping."

Mia nodded. "But isn't that the only time they ever stop moving?" she asked, while made them all laugh.


End file.
